'Blind Faith' murder case timeline

Maria and Robert Marshall on vacation in 1984 - one month before she was killed at a picnic area alongside the Garden State Parkway.Star-Ledger file photo

A Louisiana man made a stunning confession to authorities last month, admitting to the murder of a woman in New Jersey three decades ago, officials revealed today. In court, Larry Thompson was acquitted in the shooting death of Maria Marshall and the woman's husband, Robert Marshall was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Here's an overview of the complicated case that became known as the "Blind Faith" murder.

• Sept. 7, 1984: Maria Marshall is shot to death at the Oyster Creek Picnic Area of the Garden State Parkway in southern New Jersey.

• Jan. 27, 1986: Trial begins. Billy Wayne McKinnon testifies that he was hired by Robert Marshall to kill his wife, but says another man, Larry Thompson, pulled the trigger.

• March 5, 1986: Marshall is convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and is sentenced to death. Larry Thompson is acquitted.

• April 8, 1986: McKinnon pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and is sentenced to five years in prison.

• February, 1990: "Blind Faith," a miniseries based on the Marshall murder and trial, premieres in NBC.

• Jan. 24, 1991: The state Supreme Court upholds the death penalty in the Marshall case - ending a string of 27 straight reversals in death penalty cases.

• July 1992: The state Supreme Court denies Marshall's claim that his death sentence is not proportional to the crime for which he was convicted.

• February 1993: The United States Supreme Court refuses to hear Marshall's appeal.

• March 1997: The state Supreme Court rejects Marshall's more than 500 claims of errors during the trial and penalty phase. The decision rejects a claim of ineffectual counsel at the death penalty phase for a second time. Marshall's appeals at the state level are exhausted.

• June 2000: The U.S. District Court denies Marshall's claims of constitutional errors relating to the criminal phase of the trial. The decision denies a claim of ineffectual counsel at the death penalty phase for a third time.

• September 2002: The U.S. District Court holds hearings to gather a more complete record about the death penalty phase.

• April 8, 2004: After more than a dozen failed appeals by Marshall, U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas orders a new sentencing hearing, ruling Marshall's attorney bungled the 1986 death penalty hearing. State prosecutors appeal. Marshall is moved from death row to the general population of New Jersey State Prison.

• Nov. 2, 2005: A federal appeals court upholds Irenas' decision. The state appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• March 20, 2006: The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to consider the state's appeal.

• May 12, 2006: Saying too much time has passed since the 1986 trial to present an effective case against Marshall, Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher says he won't retry the death penalty phase of the trial. As a result, Marshall will be eligible for parole in eight years.

• Aug. 18, 2006: Marshall is re-sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 30 years before parole. He is eligible for parole this year.

• Dec. 4, 2012: A state Superior Court judge denied a request by Marshall to reduce his sentence due to deteriorating health.

• March 2013: The Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office in Louisiana contacted the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office to notify them that Thompson was suspected of being involved the murder of a woman near Shreveport.

• October 2013: Ocean County investigator, James A. Churchill, who oversaw the detectives looking into the Marshall murder case, was invited to assist Shreveport authorities in their investigation of this murder due to similarities in the Marshall case.

• April 14, 2014: Thompson told a Louisiana district attorney that a false alibi was used during the Marshall trial in New Jersey.

• April 17, 2014: Thompson's son, Brian who originally testified that his father was with him at a dentist office on the date of the Marshall shooting, told Louisiana authorities that in fact his mother was with him at the dentist.

• April 25, 2014: Thompson told Chief Churchill that he shot Marshall. He said that his dentist office alibi had been planned while he was in a New Jersey jail awaiting trial.

— Timeline compiled by Star-Ledger staff, with information provided by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office